YREKA – One of the two men suspected of breaking into the courthouse during the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2012 and making off with $1,257,500 in gold was arraigned Wednesday in the Siskiyou County Superior Court.

David Dean Johnson, 49, of El Cerrito, Calif., pleaded not guilty to his single felony count of second degree commercial burglary and he denied the two enhancements pertaining to the value of the stolen items.

Johnson has been held in the Siskiyou County Jail on $1 million bail since he turned himself in on Monday night following the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.

At his arraignment, Johnson was accompanied by his defense attorney Howard Williams of the Sacramento law firm Lieber Williams & Labin.

Williams told the court the statutory bail amount for Johnson’s charge is $15,000 and he asked that the court lower his client’s bail.

“Mr. Johnson is not a flight risk,” stated Williams. “He turned himself in because he wanted to comply with the law. Mr. Johnson does not intend to flee from justice.”

Siskiyou County Deputy District Attorney Martha Aker who is prosecuting this case told the court that due to the value of the items stolen from the courthouse, The People believe Johnson has the means to flee.

“Due to the seriousness of the charges and value of the theft we consider him to be a high flight risk. We ask that the bail remain at $1 million,” she said.

“At this point the court is concerned about the risk of flight,” responded Superior Court Judge Karen Dixon. She ruled that Johnson’s bail will remain at $1 million.

Dixon set Johnson’s preliminary hearing for April 12. Aker said she estimates the hearing will take three hours. At that time, the judge will hear testimony from investigators and determine whether there is enough evidence to hold Johnson to answer to the charge. Preliminary hearings are open to the public.

Williams said if his client is found guilty of the charge, he faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison. He explained that under the state prison realignment plan, his client is prison-eligible due to the two enhancements.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey stated that DNA evidence was collected at the crime scene at the time of the investigation and Johnson’s DNA has been collected for testing to determine if it matches.

He said the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is working with the California Department of Justice crime laboratory in Redding, and he anticipates it will take less than two weeks for the results to be confirmed. He declined to disclose the nature of the DNA evidence found at the crime scene, and the SCSO’s method of collecting Johnson’s DNA.

Baily is still at large, although Lopey said, “We have had recent sightings and we are working on tracking him down.”

Lopey stated that Baily and Johnson became persons of interest following a series of new investigative leads after the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted to raise the reward for the arrest and prosecution of the gold thieves from $15,000 to $50,000.

In January, the SCSO issued two search warrants in Contra Costa County and two in Shasta County.

According to Lopey, a search of Johnson and Baily’s property allegedly revealed that some of the gold proceeds have been used to purchase various high-value items. However, Lopey confirmed that officials did not locate any of the stolen gold or any other courthouse items.

Lopey stated that officials have long suspected that the two men who broke into the courthouse did not act alone.

“We think that there are people in the local area who may have assisted these individuals and we urge anyone who has information about this incident to contact the SCSO at 841-2911,” Lopey stated.

Background

Authorities believe an open window was the entrance route of the two courthouse gold burglars. The surveillance video showed the two masked men, with socks covering their hands, attempting to pry open the bulletproof gold display case in the courthouse foyer with a crowbar.

The burglars turned out the lights, and the next morning, courthouse employees arrived at work to discover a fist-size hole in the glass on the display case. The thieves made off with the large gold nuggets and left the small pieces.

The gold case was secured with a silent alarm which failed to activate during the burglary. Alarm company representatives subsequently examined the system and determined the cause of the failure, although for security reasons, county officials declined to disclose the reason for its malfunction.

The gold collection was the only one of its kind, and was insured by the county. The county has received reimbursement from its insurance carrier.